"Itachi?" A voice called for him.

A voice familiar to him. Warm, welcoming . . . gentle. His eyes felt heavy and impossible to open. Itachi groaned slightly, "Are you okay, Itachi?"

His long lashes fluttered, finally flicking open. He saw bright, white hair framing a round young face. Amethyst eyes came into focus. Tsukiko. Wait, what is Tsukiko doing here in his room? No, the air was warm, and the scent of the earth filled his nose. He shot up, and his eyes darted around. He noticed the river and the grass beneath him. When did he get out here? "Whoa, be careful, Itachi. I don't think . . ."

"How did I get here?"

"I found you collapsed in the middle of the road. I carried you all the way here."

Tsukiko wore a sheepish expression. She scratched the back of her head slightly. Finally, all those years being a farmhand paid off, "I was coming by to check on you because you said you would like to train with me when you returned from your mission. Well, when you did and said nothing, I figured you were tired or something."

"I don't, really," He blankly stared down at his fingers combing through the blades of grass.

The masked man flashed through his memories. The body of his teammate lying lifelessly on the ground. All the blood. Itachi's dance with death. Everything came flooding back to him. Kakashi Hatake had intervened in the onslaught of that strange in the odd mask. The daimyo was safe as were the others . . . besides for Tenma. They immediately escorted Team 2 back home, and he locked himself in his room. Through the door, he heard his father's cruel words, and he did not want to face the fact that he had been unable to do something.

His dream of becoming powerful to protect those he cared for, the village . . . he was so far away. He remembered seeing red as he escaped his home. Itachi also recalled seeing the flows of chakra in his clansmen as he ran through the streets. Did he awaken his Sharingan? He sat there contemplating. That had to explain the new and sudden sensation. "Are you okay?" Tsukiko snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I will be okay," He responded.

Tsukiko glanced down at her hands on her knees, "Things didn't go well on the mission, did they?"

He shook his head. "I'm not gonna force you to tell me what happened, but if you ever feel like getting it off your chest."

Itachi looked at her hands on her lap, and then he looked up into her eyes. Shame drowned him into silence. It was pointless to burden her with worry that did not relate to her. He gave a melancholy smile, "Thank you, Tsukiko."

After she had found Itachi in the middle of the street for the next couple of days, Tsukiko wondered what he had gone through. Deep down, she wished he would have told her. She got it, though; she is just becoming his friend. He had every right to keep it to himself. Before he left, he promised her they would train together within the coming week. For now, Tsukiko practiced with Izumi to improve her stamina.

Tsukiko collapsed onto the ground. She stared at the sky that was beginning to darken and fought to catch her breath. Izumi approached, crouching over with her hands on her knees. "You have a lot more stamina than I imagined."

Tsukiko met Izumi's large, doe-like eyes. Not a single bead of sweat. Izumi was light years ahead of her. "I suppose working on the farm at least gave me something to work with." She glanced up towards Izumi, "But honestly, I'm nowhere near where you're at. I'm kind of worried about taking Itachi up on his offer for training . . ."

Izumi helped Tsukiko into a sitting position, "He won't go hard on you." she assured.

Tsukiko brushed some stray leaves away from her hair. She looked down to the ground. She wanted to ask if she had heard from him since he had returned home, but she did not want to pry. At the same time, her brain would not stop worrying about her friend. "Hey, Izumi," she said softly.

"Hm?"

"Have you spoken with him since he got back?"

Izumi went quiet for a moment. She reached for Tsukiko's hand to bring her to her feet, "I did just recently. He is definitely having a hard time. I'm sure you've heard that his other teammate has decided to quit being a ninja."

"I've heard through whispers at the academy, yeah."

"He has also awakened his Sharingan."

She bit her bottom lip. She would sound a little stupid asking this, "His Sharingan?"

"It's the ability that only our clan members are born with. When we go through something scary, they activate for the first time. It makes us even stronger than we were. Mine actually awakened before his." Izumi offered a smile.

Tsukiko tried to recall if she knew any of this information. It would make sense if he never told because she never asked much more about his clan and family. Mikoto gave a pretty good introduction about them when she came to dinner that night. That just meant Izumi offered more empathy than Tsukiko ever could. "How did yours awaken, Izumi?"

"The night the nine-tails attacked the village a couple of years ago . . ." she paused, lips thinning, "I lost my father."

Again she could not imagine losing any family member. All of them were alive and well, "I don't want anyone to go through what I did. So, I hope that I can become stronger to protect the village. No kid should have to live through that." Izumi touched Tsukiko's shoulder, "I really hope you'll never have to experience that pain."

Tsukiko placed her hand over Izumi's, smiling, "We'll get stronger together. I'm ready for another round."

"Alright, get into position."

Ayaka and Megumi ultimately had been the most significant reason she used to get her father's permission to enroll in the academy. They moved several times during wars and conflicts to escape the dangers. Tsukiko had never seen a dead body or buckets of blood and gore. She knew there was a likely chance she and her siblings could be orphaned. Choosing the path of a shinobi also put her in direct danger, but . . . if it had ever been just her and the little ones . . . Tsukikiko needed to protect them.

Many days have passed, even weeks, since Itachi last saw Tsukiko. Now that she spent her days in the academy and him on pointless D-ranked missions . . . well, their paths had not crossed much lately. After returning from another really basic mission, there was still plenty of time left during the day, and he knew Tsukiko would have a day off. He wandered outside the Uchiha compound and did not have to walk terribly far to reach her home.

The stone arches welcomed him in. Itachi followed the stone path up to the massive house. Sometimes he forgets she has such a large family living here. He looked at the door for a couple of seconds just before knocking. The door eventually peeled open a bit. Her older brother Yuu peered from the doorway with his steely blue eyes. His shaggy, white hair threatened to veil his eyesight. Without acknowledging Itachi, he turned his head inside and shouted, "Tsukiko! It's Itachi!"

Well, at least Yuu knew him by name. Tsukiko's feet hit urgently on the wooden floor. It grew louder the closer she got. The young girl swung the door open, and her eyes widened, "Itachi, I wasn't expecting you . . .!"

Yuu tucked himself behind the wall, but Itachi could still see him holding a book of some sort, "I wanted to see if you would like to go to a teahouse with me?"

She nodded, and her snow-white hair flailed all about, "Okay! I'm going to let my parents know I'm leaving; I'll be right back." All the while, Yuu had his suspicious stare on the Uchiha. She made a face at her brother, "Make sure you put that book back in my room, okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry," he mumbled, slowly ascending the stairs.

It didn't take long for Tsukiko to inform her parents and grab her shoes. Once she dusted herself off, she joined Itachi by his side. "I feel like it has been a while since we last spoke," Itachi spoke.

There was a teahouse not too far from here, and not many people roamed the streets, "I know," She said, lowering her head, "We've just been so busy."

Tsukiko debated telling him that he had been on her mind lately. Walking with him now made her heart race a little. She wasn't aware of what the feeling was, however. Itachi's voice brought her out of her head, "I know I said we would train together, but we haven't even done so yet."

"I'm not yet even up to par with Izumi. I don't think I could handle training with you just yet." Tsukiko laughed while lightly scratching her cheek.

They approached the entrance of the teahouse together, but Itachi signaled for her to walk in first. The shopkeep loudly and warmly greeted them, "Fair enough, I suppose," Tsukiko chose a booth tucked away in a corner, "Just let me know when you're ready because my offer will always stand."

The waitress came over and took their order. Both of them got dango and some hot tea. Tsukiko turned to face Itachi completely, "Izumi has been nice and helpful. I'm happy we became friends. I like being your friend, but . . ."

"It's nice to have a friend that is a girl?" He canted his head to the side.

Tsukiko chuckled, nodding her head, "Yeah."

Itachi was glad she had someone else to get close to. Especially lately, not being able to spend time or train with her, at least he knew she wasn't alone. Itachi could hear the idle chatter inside the teahouse and those who passed by on the outside. Tsukiko brought his attention back to her when she said, "So . . . how have things been with you then? You have a new team now, yeah?"

He nodded his head, "Fresh graduates from the academy . . ."

The way he looked off at the corner made Tsukiko suspect he wasn't entirely happy about the situation. "That means you are doing D-rank missions only then, yeah?"

Slowly he nodded his head. She knew enough about him by now that going back to simple D-rank missions meant he was bored. Nothing challenged him, and these missions were beneath his capabilities. Tsukiko scrunched her face lightly, "I guess that means Shisui will have to work double time, yeah?" She grinned, trying to bring a light-hearted tone between them.

Itachi appreciated her attempt, "Yeah. I should probably make him work harder,"

"Maybe instead of training together the way you're used to . . . perhaps you could also be a teacher of sorts to me?" she didn't really expect him to say yes.

The waitress dropped their order off, "You know that probably isn't a bad idea. I hope you don't mind if I bring Sasuke along?" If his little brother found out that he was teaching another person and not him . . . well, to say he would be upset is an understatement.

"Of course not! Honestly, I know your brother would take priority anyways." She grinned, a little surprised that he said yes. Tsukiko wrapped her small hands around the cup. Steam billowed from the top of the cup, and she enjoyed the warmth pressing against her palms.

Together she and Itachi enjoyed each other's company. Most of their conversation centered on training, new things she learned, and some discussion of their family. They spoke for hours before departing from the teahouse. Sunlight began to settle over the horizon, and Itachi walked her home, "Bye, Itachi! See you this weekend!"

He waved her goodbye. Once again, Tsukiko's heart began to thump. She gripped her shirt right over her heart. What was this feeling? Whatever it was, she brushed it off her shoulders. Tsukiko gave one last glance over, and Itachi was gone.

Some lights in her home were on, on the first level. When she got close to opening the door of her home, a thunderous crash vibrated the house. Her stomach dropped. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Tsukiko flung the door open. Papers scattered all over the floor of the hallway. One floated down by her feet. Her mother towered over her brother Yuu with the other half of what she had torn in her hands. Yuu's back was pressed against the wall. The twins stood the furthest down the hallway. They both looked down at their feet. Ayaka sat on the top step, peering over the banister. She looked so confused. Yua's sight locked straight on Tsukiko. "Were you aware your brother had one of your books?!"

She dropped to the floor, looking down at the pages. This was one of the books Itachi gave her. He had let her borrow it for an extended time, "MOM! What did you do?! T-That book wasn't mine!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "And yes! I let him borrow it!"

"You need to stop letting your brother borrow your things!"

"BUT WHY?!"

"He is NOT ALLOWED! He must focus his time plowing the fields and making our farm flourish!"

Tears welled in her eyes. Her mother didn't even acknowledge that this book didn't belong to her. She gritted her teeth and balled her first up tightly, "STUPID! That is SO STUPID! I don't get it! Yuu should be able to do what he wants! You're so mean for no REASON!" By the end of her sentence, she was shouting at the top of her lungs.

She snagged the whole pieces of paper. The young girl stomped to her mom, snatching the book from Yua's hand. Megumi's faint cries came from another room. Her mother was red in the face. When she opened her mouth, Tsukiko sneered at her mom, "Don't worry, Mom, I'm going to my room."

Each step her little feet took made the floor vibrate. She slammed her door as loud as possible. Heavy breaths poured from her lungs, and she finally fell onto her knees, screaming into the torn book. Ever since they arrived here in Konoha . . . everything about her family has felt off.